Don Sorel (1959 – 2020) – Guitar & Music teacher
By Charlotte Triggs, People | Megyn Kelly and her family are still mourning the loss of Don Sorel, her 10-year-old son Edward Yates‘ music teacher who died after contracting the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
The Fox News anchor, 49, talked to PEOPLE about Sorel’s death, and how “awful” the moment was when she and husband Douglas Brunt had to tell Yates the bad news after it initially seemed like his teacher was recovering.
“I’m in the middle of this joyful moment with Yates and [Doug] shows me the [news] and it’s like, ‘Oh my God, what am I going to do? Am I going to ruin this moment? But he’s got to know. We have to tell them because all the boys are Zooming and they’re all on this group text where they text every 2 minutes. There’s no keeping it from him.’ ”
So Kelly, 49, and Brunt “sat [Yates] down and told him” once they learned school had been canceled the following day out of respect for Sorel, “and it was awful. It was just awful.”
“I couldn’t get it out without crying, and then he cried. We held each other,” she adds.
The next day, instead of school, the kids “had a Zoom meeting in memory of Mr. Sorel, and his teacher shared that [her fellow] teachers had done the same thing earlier that day — that they’d all been in tears and laughter sharing memories of [Sorel].”
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The school had initially updated parents that Sorel, who was 62 years old, was “out of the ICU and doing better,” which made Kelly and her family think they “were in the clear” before the news changed “so suddenly.”
“I said, ‘I have something to tell you about Mr. Sorel.’ And I think maybe [Yates] was wondering if it was more good news because the last update had been good,” Kelly tells PEOPLE. “And then we said, ‘It’s bad news.’ And he just looked confused. And we were confused too.”
“You have to explain that doesn’t necessarily mean anything when it comes to this disease,” she adds. “We talked about what was going to happen at school and they were going to honor him the next day and that the boys would probably be talking about it, and maybe we could write another note to Mr. Sorel’s now-widow, which we did.”
As for the former Today host’s younger two children — son Thatcher Bray, 6, and daughter Yardley Evans, 9 — “they [came] into the aftermath where they [could] see teary family members, and we just told them the truth too.”
The family leaned on each other and close friend Richie Sambora reached out to support Yates, gifting him a guitar and virtual music lessons after the tragedy, and coaching him to channel his sadness into a song.
“He’s so sweet. He spent so much time with Yates,” Kelly recalls. “Yates came off that phone on cloud nine.”
Read the whole story here:
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/megyn-kelly-recalls-telling-son-140030070.html
Go Quietly song – this video dedicated to the late Mr. Sorel (my Collegiate School music teacher) ~ Phil Enock
After getting the news that my favorite music teacher died tonight from covid, I knew what song I needed to sing. This is by my old band The Monkery (full band version available on Spotify), a song of mourning. Dedicated to Don Sorel, Collegiate School music teacher for 38 years including my 12 there, and the man who first put a keyboard and computer in my hands to create music with technology. I and many others are so grateful to have had him in our lives.
Don Sorel, aged 62, of Pomona NY, died on April 7, at Good Samaritan hospital, due to Covid 19.
Don’s extraordinary musical talents became obvious at a very young age. He would run around the house saying, “I’m Chopin, I’m Chopin!” His astute parents took this as a sign, and bought him an upright piano and hired him a local piano teacher named Judy Thomas. She wisely noticed his exceptional talent, and suggested that he attend the Preparatory Division at the Juilliard School. Don was welcomed into the school by Dr. Mary B. Lenom, and was assigned to the renowned instructor Robert Harris, who encouraged Don’s parents to buy him a grand piano, and they benevolently bought him a Steinway! Don’s talent then soared, and by age 14 he was teaching piano lessons to local children, and was substituting for George Bryant as organist at St. Ann’s church in Nyack.
Don attended Nyack High School, and then Columbia College and Columbia Teacher’s College, where he earned a Master’s degree in Music Education. He was immediately hired by Collegiate School in Manhattan where he had done his student teaching. Don enriched the Collegiate community for 38 years with his passion for music, creativity, deep understanding of the liberal arts, and absolute belief in the importance of art being a central part of such an education. His vision for music at Collegiate served to bring meaning into the lives of boys since he first arrived at the School in 1982. He was focused and persistent in building the school’s current K to 12 music program. Don founded and developed the Collegiate Conservatory Program. It was Don’s foresight that helped create the extraordinary Middle School strings program that provides boys with the tri-annual opportunity of performing in Carnegie Hall. One of the signature moments in the life of the school, where the support of the boys for one another is vivid, are the divisional talent shows that Don established. He was the driving force in designing the music spaces in their new building. In addition to all of those breathtaking achievements, he directed choral groups for 38 years. Thanks to his passion, music is deeply rooted in the culture of the Collegiate School. Beyond his inspiration of students, meaningful relationships with colleagues, and leadership of the Music Department, Don played a central role in organizing and guiding the community’s ritual events. From his graceful and heartfelt playing of the organ in West End Collegiate Church, to his vision and leadership in working with faculty and students to bring their annual Holiday Program together—the meaningful, moving, and enduring nature of their ritual events are forever tied to Don’s involvement and commitment to the boys and the school. A man of tremendous devotion, accomplishment, and humility, Don’s passing leaves a hole in the Collegiate community. His legacy—their wonderful music program—endures and will enrich and ennoble boys for generations to come. His quiet but incredibly effective leadership yielded culture-changing results.
Throughout the years, Don was the organist at The Brick Church in New Hempstead, and then at St. Francis of Assisi Church in West Nyack. Don was a devoted Catholic, and spent the last 30 years as the organist at St. Margaret Church in Pearl River, alongside his wife Terri, who was the music director and cantor. Their love of the Lord, and their passion for spreading God’s word through musical expression graced the lives of so many devoted parishioners throughout those many years. As part of their ministry, they performed at countless funerals and weddings, many times for family and friends, which was especially meaningful to them. Don was particularly fond of working with the choir in a joy-filled manner and in finding meaningful, uplifting pieces for them to perform.
Don loved to ski and golf, and was an avid movie buff, but his true passion was for traveling. He traveled to France, Italy, England, Scotland, Canada, Mexico, Honduras, and very many Caribbean Islands and states in America, and even a riverboat cruise. However, some of the happiest times he had were with his family and friends at Disneyworld.
Don is survived by his high school sweetheart and adoring wife Terri, (nee Slaker,) whom he loved dearly; his wonderful sons: Jason Sorel, Jeffrey Sorel and Alex Sprague; [and many other family members]
Due to the current corona virus social distancing restrictions, a memorial service in his honor will be postponed until a later date. The date and location will appear on this site once determined.
Obituary: https://hannemannfuneralhome.com